What Are You Reading? Four UCH-ers Share

Volume 9 | Issue 3 | August 18, 2015
What Are You Reading?
Four UCH-ers Share
By Joelle Klein
You can usually count on Colorado summers to bring unexpected
hail, weeklong 90-plus degree scorchers, and frequent afternoon
thundershowers. They also bring ample opportunity to bike, hike,
swim, camp, travel and, best of all, read.
I usually make mental notes about what books I’m going to bring
(or download, rather) on my annual vacation back East to visit
family starting in May. You’ll always find a few easy beach reads,
a memoir or two, and a longish book that I’ve been meaning to dive
into on my list of summer reads. To gather more ideas, I once again
chatted with four University of Colorado Hospital employees about
their summer lists.
“I do love a good, juicy summer novel,” she admitted.
So far she’s enjoyed “The Girl on the Train,” by Paula Hawkins
(which I enjoyed earlier this year); “Summerlong,” by Dean
Bakopoulos; “Luckiest Girl Alive,” by Jessica Knoll; “The Good
Girl,” by Mary Kubica; and “The Rumor” by Elin Hilderbrand (her
“juicy” summer read).
McLemore has been in a book group for 10 years. She said she
doesn’t always read the book selection but is planning to read the
next pick, “Child 44,” by Tom Rob Smith, the first book in a trilogy
of thrillers.
McLemore gets book suggestions from the “New York Times”
bestseller lists, the “Denver Post,” and her Kindle. To say she’s a
Kindle fan would be a gross understatement.
“I think the Kindle and the Keurig [coffee maker] are the greatest
inventions of my lifetime,” McLemore said. “I can live without my
cell phone, but not the other two. I’m amazed that I can order a
book [on my Kindle] and start reading it within seconds. It’s the
best thing ever.”
Other books she highly recommends are “The Rosie Project,” by
Graeme Simsion; “Don’t Order Dog,” by C.T. Wente; and “All the
Light We Cannot See,” a Pulitzer Prize winner by Anthony Doerr
(she loved it; I hated it).
Executive Assistant Lori McLemore could not live without her Kindle.
Kindle cravings. Of the four, Lori McLemore, senior executive
assistant to the strategy team, probably has the reading tastes
most similar to mine, although we didn’t agree on everything. She’s
partial to fiction, and tends to read lighter books in the summer.
Varied appetite. Web Editor/Writer Bill Kaluza has much grittier
and more varied tastes than I. Earlier this summer he enjoyed
“Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets,” by David Simon, the guy
behind the HBO hit TV series “The Wire.” (It was recommended
and loaned to him by UCH Insider Editor Tyler Smith).
Continued
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Volume 9 | Issue 3 | August 18, 2015 | Page 2
When asked what genre he favored, he said it was too tough to
pick just one, or even a few, since he is a voracious reader of many
types of books. But he did say that he had been drawn to Nordic
Noir books for the last few years. What are those, I wondered?
The re-reader. IT trainer and first-edition book collector
Curt Devore is a big re-reader of books, something I pretty much
never do.
“I think it’s a comfort thing. It’s a place I like to be, or I remember
thinking the book was really good and I want to see if it’s as good
as I thought it was the first time,” he explained.
Whether he’s reading a book for the first time, or re-reading a
favorite, his genre of choice is espionage thrillers. He just finished
the four books in “The Radio Man” series, by Ralph Milne Farley,
and is currently on the last of eight books in the “Outlander”
series, by Diana Gabaldon. But his favorite read of the summer
was recommended by his wife. “The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry,” by
Gabrielle Zevin, about a bookstore owner, was very different from
his usual espionage page-turners..
“It was just a warm read that I really liked,” he said.
Web Editor/Writer Bill Kaluza always has to have a book to read.
“Crime thrillers from Scandinavian authors like Stieg Larsson
[author of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” and the other two
books in the Millennium trilogy series], Jo Nesbo, and Henning
Mankell,” he informed me.
Next up for Devore is “The Bookman’s Promise,” by
John Dunning, the Denver-based writer and book collector,
and another recommendation from his wife, “The Tower, the
Zoo and the Tortoise,” by Julia Stuart.
Hard cover or paperback only for Devore. “I have no use for a
Kindle – at all,” he said.
In addition to “Homicide,” he’s read “The Purity of Vengeance: A
Department of Q Novel,” by Nordic Noir scribe Jussi Adler-Olsen;
and “The Terror,” by local author Dan Simmons. He is currently
reading the first of Larry McMurtry’s Berrybender Narratives, called
“Sin Killer.”
Kaluza is old school when it comes to book format. “I just check out
from the library. I’m not against electronic readers but I just haven’t
found a reason to change my current pattern at this point,” he said.
He next plans to re-read the four “Game of Thrones” books, by
George R.R. Martin, and get caught up on the last one Martin has
since written. He describes the series as “Lord of the Rings” meets
the “Sopranos.”
“It’s considered fantasy literature but it’s really the most gritty,
violent disturbing literature you’ll ever read,” Kaluza said. A
recommendation for some, I guess.
IT trainer Curt Devore prefers re-reading favorites
to trying out something new.
Kid stuff. As a children’s book author (you can find her first
published children’s book, “Russell’s Sprouts,” on amazon.com)
herself, Leigh Zwigart, executive assistant to Vice President of
Clinical and Support Services Derek Rushing, reads more children’s
books over the summer than anything else. But she also enjoys
mysteries, fantasies, and science fiction.
Continued
Volume 9 | Issue 3 | August 18, 2015 | Page 3
“I like to see which children’s authors have won awards and follow
those authors to see what they’re doing. That tells me which
picture books are making the grade out there,” Zwigart said.
Leigh Zwigart, executive assistant and author of children’s books, likes very,
very, very light reading over the summer.
Favorite children’s books she’s covered this summer include
“Mr. Tiger Goes Wild,” by Peter Brown; “Sam and Dave Dig a
Hole,” by Mac Barnett; “Splat the Cat,” by Rob Scotton (one
of her favorite series authors); and “I Want My Hat Back,” by
Jon Klassen.
Grown-up books she finished this summer include “The Night
Circus,” by Erin Morgenstern, and a short story (aka a Kindle
Single) by Stephen King called “Mile 81.” Next up for her is Harper
Lee’s newly published novel, “Go Set a Watchman,” the longanticipated follow-up to “To Kill a Mockingbird.”
“It was her plan to publish this one before ‘To Kill a Mockingbird.’
It will be interesting to read,” she said.
As for my reading list, this summer I’ve read “Between Shades of
Gray,” by Ruta Sepeys (completely unrelated to other books with
the words “Shades” and “Grey” in the title); “Leaving Before the
Rains Come,” by Alexandra Fuller; “The Immortal Life of Henrietta
Lacks,” by Rebecca Skloot; and the aforementioned “All the Light
We Cannot See.”
I started “The Argonauts,” by Maggie Nelson, but put it down
after about 75 pages. I’m now reading “Our Souls at Night,” by
the late Colorado author Kent Haruf, and loving it. Next up will
be “Hold Still: A Memoir with Photographs;” by Sally Mann; and
“Circling the Sun,” by Paula McLain. The book on Henrietta Lacks,
a compelling medical detective story with social significance, is the
clear winner so far.
Which books are on your summer reading list? Send me your
favorites (joelleklein@yahoo.com) and we’ll publish them in the
Insider’s next edition of “Campus Diary,” Aug. 19.